Car-truck.



H. M. PFLAGER.

CAR TRUCK.

APPLICATION FILED luLY 6. 1917.

Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

Illllll' .stares is anni* orsi@o Hanni; iii. PFLAGER, on sT. Louis,iviissouai,y nssieuon 'ro ooivnvioNwEAn'rH e COMPANY, .or sfr.LoUIsvMIssoUnI, YA ooaPonAmoN on NEW Jnasnx.

CAR-TRUCK.

, Specification of Letters Patent.V Patented Auw; 1.918,:

i Application filed July 6,1917. Serial No. 179,038.

To all whom# may concern:

Be it zknown that I, HARRY M. PFLAGER, a citizen 0f the United -States,residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Gar-Trucks, of which the yfollowing is a full, clear, andexact description, suoli as will enable others skilled lin 'the art towhich ,it :appertains to make and use the saine, 4reference beingha'd tothe accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification. f

My invention relates generally to railway car truck construction andmore particularly to a new and improved spring equalizer arrangement foryieldingly supporting the truck frame upon the` journal boxes, which`latter it will be understood contain-.the

bearings for the wheel carrying axles, andv this application should iberead `and considered in connection -with Patents Numbers 1,080,555,1,080,556, 1,080,557, 1,080,558 and 1,080,559, issued tov the assignee.of Clarence H. Howard and myself December 9, 1913.

- The principal objectsofmy invention are, to'provide increasedflexibility of the truck andequ'alize the distributionof weight upon allof fthe'truck wheels, 1to providera coinparat'ively simple truck framevsupport which, by virtue-of itsarrangement and construction, will beeffectivein distributing and absorbing shocks `and-vibrations duer to4track irregularities and kpreventing said shocks and vibrations from:being transmitted to the car body, thereby making the ridingk movementof said body more easy and and springs, preferably of the helicaltype,vk

arranged between the equalizing members and between certain of saidmembers and the truck frame. Y

My invention further consists in certain novel features of constructionand arrange-5A ment of parts, hereinafter morefully described andclaimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure1 is a. plan view ofthe side .portion ofa truck frame,- thesame beingyequipped with the flexible support contemplated Eby my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevationalV view Vof the truck frame, parts thereof Ybeing broken away, andl showing my improved -supporting means associatedtherewith; .-F ig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken approximatelyon .the line 3*,3 of Fig. 1.

.Referring by numerals to theaccompanying drawings,"10 designates thewheel piece of an accepted type of six wheel truck frame, the vsaine.being preferably of integral construction and. including .end pieces l1fand transom members 12.

a 'Rigidly lfixed to and :dependingfrom the The wheel pieces 10 of thetruck frame are preferably hollow and .ofbox-llilic construction incross vsection with :theabottomt wall Yor plate cutawayat points between:the pedestaljaws for .the accommodation ofthe journal boxes and theouter wall of .said` wheel piece being out away vat suitable points topermit the ready insertion or :removal of the equalizer members andsprings .constituting .iny improved construction: n

Balanced upon each journal box is a substantiaillyv rigid Y 'or-Vnon-elastic equalizing Amember 16, the ends thereof being provided withshallow pockets 17 adapted to receive the lower ends of helical springs.Fulcrumed on the wheel piece of the truck frame and preferably on theunderside ofthe top plate thereof and at points approximately midwaybetween the centers of the equalizinginenibers 16 are equalizing members18 in the underside of the end portions of which are formed springpockets 19.

The spring pockets 19in the ends of the equalizers 18 are disposeddirectly above the spring pockets formed in the ends of the equalizerwhich is mounted upon the central one of the journal boxes and above thespring pockets in the inner ends of the equalizersA which are Amountedon the outer or end pair of journal boxes.

Formed in the underside of the top plate of the wheel piece at pointsabove the outer ends of the equalizers which are mounted on the outerpair of journal boxes are spring pockets 20. Interposed between the endsof the equalizing members 16 .and 18 and between the outer ends of thepair of members which are mounted on the end pair of4 journal boxes andthe top plate ofthe Wheel piece are helical springs 21 of thecompression type, that is, their normal tendency. is to expand andresist compression. These springs are preferably arranged in pairs andif desired two or more springs of different sizes may be nested orarranged one within the other as illustrated in Fig. 3.

It willv be understood that the ends of these f springs occupy thevarious spring pockets 17, 19 and 20.

By my improved spring and equalizer arrangement a truck frame supportingstructure is provided which is yielding and resilient to a comparativelyhigh degree with the result that service shocks and vibration due to thepassage of the truck wheels over rough tracks, switches, crossings andthe like are practically absorbed and eliminated, and as a result theriding movement of the supported car body is rendered more easy andgentle. f

The improved spring and equalizer arrangement is edective in materiallyincreasing the flexibility of the truck and equalizing the distributionof the `carried weight upon all of the truck wheels. Furthermore, byarranging the springs and equalizer members within the hollow wheelpieces of the truck, they are practically inclosed and consequentlyprotected from injury, andfurther' such arrangement leaves thebrakefbeams, brake shoes, and brake rigging free for'inspection andreadily accessible in the event of repairs and adjustments.

It will be understood that the equalizing members 16 are free to rockvertically upon the journal boxes 14 and likewise that the equalizingmembers 18 can, under service conditions, rock upon their fulcrums,which latter may be of any desired form, preferably a pair of pins orbolts seated in the wheel piece and engaging in a pair of correspondingbearings which are formed in the top of the equalizer and spaced a shortdistance apart.

While I have illustrated and described my invention as beingparticularly applicable for six wheel trucks, it will be understood thatpractically the same arrangement can be advantageously utilized inconnection with trucks having other wheel arrangements.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form andconstruction of the various parts of my improved car truck can be madeand substituted for those herein shown and described, without departingfrom the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in theappended cl'aimi' I claim:

The combination with a car truck frame and its journal boxes, said truckframe being provided with a substantially hollow wheel piece, the lowerportion of which is out away for the reception of the journal boxes, ofrigid equalizing members bearing upon the journal boxes, rigidequalizing` members bearing upon the truck frame at points between thejournal boxes, coil springs arranged between the ends of the two sets ofequalizing members, and coil springs arranged between the truck frameand the outer ends of the outer pair of equalizing members, all of whichequalizing members and springs-are disposed substantially within thewheel piece of the truck frame.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ax my signature this 26th day of J une,1917.

HARRY M. PFLAGER.

Copies of this patent maylbe obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

